^h^ ''<J!"J!r^^^*^*JUfV^' ••'T T,*<3!''^»w ' V*- '73^ r» -ar^r^inPTp^j fcH« ^^MJ ■^^'iWT'^T ;;■ p^ *5"M»f »■ i' 



i»^ V '^ ,Mji4J 1*;- 



August 3 7, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



728g 



this place on Friday we found that he 

 carried his theory into practice. 



At Wednesday morning's session we 

 were disappointed in not having a paper 

 by Mr. J. H. Dunlop of Toronto on "A 

 Keview of Roses and Carnations to 

 Present Date and Their Special Require- 

 ments. " Mr. Dunlop was unable to be 

 present himself, and as his paper did 

 uot materialize, Mr. Wm. Gammage of 

 London was asked to open the discus- 

 sion on carnations, and Mr. Ed Dale 

 on roses. These men brought up lively 

 discussions, not only on the method of 

 growing, but on the new varieties. It 

 was generally considered that of the 

 standard varieties of carnations at pres- 

 ent in cultivation that Enchantress was 

 the most profitable. Fiancee, Fred Burki, 

 My Maryland and Lady Bountiful were 

 considered among the best of the new 

 varieties. "With the new roses Mr. Dale 

 did not consider that any of them had 

 come up to the standard set by Bride 

 and Maid. Mr. J. Bennett's paper on 

 "How to Grow Nephrolepis" was freely 

 discussed. The discussion brought up 

 many comments on the new varieties of 

 nephrolepis upon the market, and a hint 

 was thrown out that many old varieties 

 were being sent out under new names. 



The essay on violets by F. L. Gird- 

 wood was fine. He dealt particularly on 

 double violets; this discussion brought 

 Mr. Wm. Fendley, the violet expert of 

 Brampton to his feet, who answered 

 many important questions regarding the 

 growing of single violets, and the same 

 gentleman was asked how and what va- 

 rieties of sweet peas he grew, which he 

 had been shipping with two-feet stems 

 during the early spring. He replied 

 that he could not answer the question 

 as the growing had been done wholly by 

 one of his boys, but he promised to have 

 him at the next convention to answer 

 the question himself. 



The choice of place for next meeting 

 and the election of officers took up the 

 evening session on Wednesday, and as 

 Mr. Downing, who was to have given 

 a paper on greenhouse fertilizer was not 

 present, this was left out. 



An invitation from Mr. Wm. Hunt of 

 the Guelph Agricultural College was ex- 

 tended to the convention to meet in 

 Guelph next year. He also presented a 

 petition signed by the florists of Guelph 

 and the towns around, and as it was con- 

 sidered that the agricultural college 

 would be quite interesting for the dele- 

 gates, and being close to Toronto they 

 would be able to take in the exhibition, 

 it was decided to meet there. 



The election of oflScers resulted as fol- 

 lows : 



. President, Wm. Fendley, Brampton; 

 first vice-president, Wm. Hunt, Guelph; 

 second vice-president, John Walsh; sec- 

 retary, A. H. Ewing; treasurer, H. Sim- 

 mers; committee, two years, Edw. Dale; 

 three years, J. Campbell, J. Suckling and 

 J. Eddy; representative on industrial 

 exhibition board, H. Simmers. 



On Thursday the delegates were enter- 

 tained by the city of Montreal to a drive 

 around, viewing the parks, were taken 

 up the mountain, entertained at lun- 

 cheon, then given a trolley ride through 

 the city, and visited the harbor. Mon- 

 treal has without exception every advan- 

 tage to make a city attractive. The 

 delegates were very much impressed with 

 their mountain drive and the view from 

 Observation park is one that will long 

 be remembered. The banquet was held 

 on Thursday evening at the Welland 

 House. Mr. Geo. Robinson, the presi- 



dent, took the chair and kept everything 

 in order. Besides good speeches a num- 

 ber of good songs were rendered by local 

 singers, comic songs by Mr. McQuarry 

 kept the delegates in good humor. A 

 French song by Mr. Pinoteau was quite 

 interesting to the English delegates. The 

 toast list included * * The King, ' ' which 

 was responded to by singing ' ' God Save 

 the King. " " Our Country ' ' was re- 

 sponded to by Mr. J. Suckling of Truro, 

 who among other things, remarked that 

 Nova Scotia was not a bad place to live 

 in, although the Grits did carry every- 

 thing. "Our Society" was responded 

 to by Mr. H. Simmers, Mr. John Walsh 

 and Mr. P. McKenna. "Our Sister So- 

 cieties, " by W. Manda for the American 

 societies, Mr. Wm..Wilshire for the Mon- 

 treal gardeners and Mr. J. Bennett for 

 the Montreal florists, and Mr. Walter 

 Wilshire for the Toronto gardeners and 

 florists. The toast to the city of Mon- 

 treal was responded to by Alderman 

 Packard. "The Ladies" by Mr. D. J. 

 Sinclair. 



On Friday the delegates were enter- 

 tained by the gardeners and florists of 

 Montreal and were taken out to St. Anne 

 de Bellevue to visit the private places 

 of the wealthy men of Montreal; this 

 was without exception one of the most 

 enjoyable days that the delegates put 

 in, and it was certainly a treat to see the 

 magnificent places that are attended to 

 by private gardeners we had met in the 

 convention hall; it would be impossible 

 to enumerate them all. After visiting a 

 number of them we were entertained at 

 luncheon on the lawo of R. B. Angus, 

 Esq. After doing justice to a magnifi- 

 cent luncheon, and drinking the health 

 of our entertainers we took the boat 

 down the Lachine Rapids to Montreal, 

 thus ending a thoroughly enjoyable day's 

 sight-seeing. D. J. 



FERTILIZERS IN GREENHOUSES. 



[A paper by Wm. Downing, foreman for H. L. 

 Janzen, Berlin. Ont., written for the Ciinadlan 

 Horticultural Society at the Montreal meeting, 

 August 8 to 10. 1905.] 



In writing a paper on fertilizers for 

 greenhouse purposes to be read before 

 so august an assembly as the C. H. A. 

 one is at a disadvantage, owing to the 

 many differences of opinion as to the 

 meaning of the word ' ' fertilizer " to be 

 found among the members. To go to 

 the dictionary for a meaning, as applied 

 to horticulture we find that "any sub- 

 stance added to the soil to produce a 

 more fertile condition" is the solution 

 offered. It will be a considerable help to 

 keep this in view as the text of the paper. 



At this point perhaps it were as well 

 to state that my intention is not to ex- 

 ploit any special artificial manure, for 

 two reasons: 



1 — That I have not given any of the 

 articles manufactured here in this coun- 

 try suflScient test to speak with that 

 nicety of opinion requisite. 



2 — That remarks made before a body 

 of florists on such subjects would cause 

 no little ill feeling to be engendered in 

 the hearts of those whose products were 

 not placed in the front, and, as it is 

 stated that comparisons are odious, par- 

 ticularly so from a business standpoint. 



First let us look at the requirements 

 of })lants in the direction of food so as 

 to better appreciate the value of the 

 various manures. Sulphur, potassium, 

 sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, chlor- 

 ine, silicon phosphorus and nitrogen are 

 the elements which go to build up a plant 

 and are derived from the soil. The three 



which are most essential are nitrogen, 

 phosphorus and potassium. The other 

 elements mentioned are nearly always in 

 a soil in sufficient quantities without add- 

 ing the form of fertilizers, or are in 

 chemical combination with these three 

 essentials and are so used. 



To now come to the fertilizer for 

 greenhouse use, it is fitting to take first 

 the manure most commonly used, as it 

 also contains largely the most necessary 

 of plant foods, nitrogen. 



The best manure for the supply of 

 this the all important food is that de- 

 rived from the excretions of animals 

 and not only does it contain all that is 

 necessary for the growth of a plant, but 

 it IS the cheapest and most lasting in its 

 effect. As to the manner of using, 

 everything depends upon the size of place 

 and time at the disposal of the grower. 



As a liquid it cannot be surpassed, 

 and this is the best mode of application, 

 but as a mulch on bench-grown stock it 

 is very effective. No more need be said, 

 as everyone who is a florist knows as 

 much as can be known of the uses of this 

 valuable manure. 



Guano is another generally reputed ni- 

 trogenous fertilizer and when this ma- 

 nure was first offered such was the case, 

 but later samples only contain about 

 nine per cent of nitrogen and are really 

 phosphatie guanos. These are still of 

 value, but do not equal the Peruvian. 

 In buying the above mentioned manure 

 always get a guaranteed analysis. Vari- 

 ous simple tests as to genuineness are- 

 The color should be like coffee and milk' 

 if dark brown it contains too much 

 water, if gray too much earth. Odor 

 should be ammoniacal. To the touch it 

 should be like oil and when broken the 

 pieces should have a crystalline appear- 

 ance which denotes nitrogen. 



Fish refuse is often offered as a fer- 

 tilizer and is generally of good value 

 and will contain from ten to twenty per 

 cent of nitrogen and some quantities of 

 potassium and magnesia which are added 

 to act as preser\'atives. 



Native guano is a preparation offered 

 by some of the large cities of Europe. 

 It IS prepared from the sewage and con- 

 tains valuable quantities of nitrogen. It 

 is much preferable to have it in the fer- 

 tilizer form than to use it as an ingredi- 

 ent of the drinking water. I may men- 

 tion here that the Manchester Corpora- 

 tion, England, offers this at $20 per ton 

 and thereby turns a waste product to 

 good use. Probably some of the enter- 

 prising florists of Montreal might go to 

 •■vork and use a like waste to the advan- 

 tage of the trade. 



Nitrate of soda is another nitrogenous 

 manure but should not be largely used 

 as Its tendency is to produce rapid, soft 

 growth, with a consequence, deterioration 

 ot the blooming qualities. For finishing 

 up mums, or putting color into the 

 bloom, it cannot be excelled if given 

 in weak doses or mixed with common 

 salt. 



Sulphate of ammonia is another chemi- 

 cal manure containing much nitrogen 

 but the essential is not so readily avail- 

 able as in the nitrate of soda. It can 

 however, be used without the same injuri- 

 ous effect as is produced by the use of 

 nitrate of soda. 



(To be continued.) 



Minneapolis. Minn.— Herman Bach- 

 man, Lyndal avenue south and Fiftieth 

 Ktreet, is building a house 25x200, one 

 20x42 and a boiler house 18x60. 



